Path To Insanity
by AHeartForStories
Summary: Sonic Hedgehog is an esteemed crime investigator who is usually send after the most strange and horrible cases. He thinks there is nothing he can't handle, but when a convict escapes from a secretive prison, he discovers just how dangerous a combination of a tragic past and strange unlimited power can be. AU Sonic and Shadow.
1. Prologue

_Hiya! AHeartForStories here with another story to tell!_

_This story will be an AU version of both Shadow and Sonic. Amy will play a part in this story aswell, but I'm not sure yet just how much she will participate._

_And just so you know, the start of this story does not mean that my other stories will be put on hold. It just means that I have a lack of inspiration for them._

_Please write a review and tell me what you think about the current chapter or the story in its whole._

_I hope you'll enjoy reading this story as much as I enjoy writing it! ^^_

* * *

**Path To Insanity: Prologue**

_Darkness fell upon the land, quickly covering the two figurs. Rain fell from the dark sky, soaking the clothes the two of them wore. The temperature went down a few degrees and soon enough, their pants came in the form of white misty clouds._

_One of them held a gun, it's barrel pointed at the exhausted one on the stone ground._

_"So... here we are." The standing one said. His voice nothing more than a whisper as he spoke. He was just as exhausted as the other one, but still had enough strength to keep standing._

_The other didn't respond. He just looked in front of him, his thin body lying still on the cold stone. He couldn't care less about the rain pouring down on him._

_"Is this it?" The deranged one lying on the ground asked, for the first time in a long while did his voice sound as young as his age. The soft tone didn't betray any kind of sadness, but it didn't show cold carelessness either._

_"I'm affraid so." The gun holding man answered. His voice did betray the sadness he felt, although he tried his best to stay proffesional and keep his feelings under lock-down._

_When did it all start? It was a question that one of them knew the answer to, while the other could only guess._

_As he wondered if this was really the end that fate had in mind for him, even though others died a more painful death at his hands, his eyes slowly closed, accepting whatever punishment may be ahead._


	2. A Normal Day At Work

_Hiya! AHeartForStories here with the first real chapter of 'Path To Insanity'!_

_This story will be an AU version of both Shadow and Sonic. Amy will play a part in this story aswell, but I'm not sure yet just how much she will participate._

_I would like to thank 'TheVideoGamer' for reviewing the prologue. I really appreciate it, I had not expected a review this soon. ^^_

_Please write a review and tell me what you think about the current chapter or the story in its whole._

_I hope you'll enjoy reading this story as much as I enjoy writing it! ^^_

* * *

**Path To Insanity: Chapter 1 - A Normal Day At Work**

Sonic Hedgehog had everything he wanted in life. He was married to a wonderful wife, had his dream job and a bright future ahead of him. Of course, he had none of these things just handed over to him. He had to work hard to get this far, which only made it even more worthwhile.

"Goodmorning, Honey. Are you already getting ready for work?" The cheerful voice of his wife, Amy, reached his ears as Sonic came walking in the kitchen.

"Goodmorning, and yeah, I am. I overslept and I can't afford to be late. Especially since it's Tails' day today." Sonic said, pulling his shirt over his head and down his toned chest. He was reffering to his best friend, a young and famed technician who had been helping him with severe cases for a few years now.

"Oh... So that means we won't get to eat breakfast together today either." Amy said sadly, clearly not pleased with this. She had hoped to eat breakfast with her husband for once.

"No, I'm sorry, but I promise we'll get to do it soon. Maybe tomorrow." He said and gave her a quick, but loving, kiss on her lips before he pulled his jacket on and took a slice of toast before walking to the front door, obviously hurried.

"I'll be back in the evening, but I'll drop by your work during my lunch break. I'll see ya later!" He yelled and closed the front door behind him, not giving his wife enough time to react.

Sonic was walking in a steady pace down the sidewalk. He quickly ate his toast, making sure he had atleast some breakfast in his stomach. He just hoped it would be enough to last to lunchtime. It would be a bit of an embarrassing sight to faint from the lack of food in the morning.

He walked towards the subway. He knew that he had the speed to get to his office in a matter of minutes, but after a terrible work accident, he was left with a little less stamina than he used to have. He had suffered a grave wound on his leg and was lucky that he could still use it to even walk, but whenever he ran, the old recovered wound would start aching, preventing him from using his speed like he used to.

Sonic had learned to live with it and decided that his speed was only something he would use as a last resort, which was the reason why he went to the subway instead of running to work.

Once descended down the stairs, Sonic bought the cheapest ticket to his destination and made his way to the right platform. Once there he took a seat and waited for the metro to come.

His arms crossed in front of his chest as he took a comfortable position. He looked at his watch and noticed that the underground train wouldn't be here in atleast twenty minutes. A sigh left him. Catching this metro on time was the reason why he couldn't spend his morning with Amy.

Either the metro came just a minute or two after he had arrived, or it would take up to forty minutes before it finally came to pick it's passengers up. However, forty minutes would be too late and he would've been forced to run, but with twenty minutes he could be just in time. That is, if there were no unexpected delays.

Sonic looked up when he heard the screeching sound of the brakes and saw the metro slowly coming to a stop. His ears twitched as the noise sounded even louder for mobians. Especially for those with extra sensitive hearing.

The cobalt hedgehog pushed himself up from his seat and walked towards the edge, looking out for the bright yellow line that showed where it would be too dangerous to stand.

When the metro had finally halted, it's doors opened and people pushed their way in and out of the wagon. These doors were only open for a very limited time and those that did not get on or off the wagon in time had bad luck and were forced to wait for the next metro or stop.

Sonic easily got on and held onto the pole as there were no vacant seats left. It seemed that even here his right leg dared to sting a little, but it was the kind of sting that went easily ignored, no matter how persistent it may be.

The metro quickly left. Sonic took the time to look around the wagon he was currently in. There was nothing out of the ordinary. His eyes then went to look outside. There was really nothing to see outside except grey walls and darkness. In other words, nothing that was worth seeing.

Thankfully, the ride didn't take all that long. Only a short ten minutes passed when the metro pulled into the next station. Sonic pushed the past the mass of the people and got to the double doors. The doors opened and he quickly got out before they closed again.

The hedgehog continued his walk in his usual fast pace and left the subway system.

It only took about another five minutes before Sonic arrived at the police station. He walked inside and was immediatly greeted by the purple cat, who was seated behind the counter in the entrance hall. Sonic returned it and made his way to his office.

On his way, he passed the department he worked for. His eyes scanned the multiple seperate rooms and desks as he searched for his young friend. But the lack of golden fur let him know that he wasn't here yet. Or that was what he thought.

"Sonic!" A young voice called out to him as the said hedgehog had just turned the handle of the door to his office.

"Tails! I was already starting to wonder if you might've slept in." He said and turned to the young kitsune.

Miles 'Tails' Prower was only 16 when he already graduated his collage and joined the hedgehog by his side. Quite young indeed, but that was what Sonic adored about the little guy. He was, and still is, a loyal and hard working friend. Not to mention that his intelligence came in handy.

"Not a chance! I wouldn't want to miss this day! Not even for all the riches in the whole world!" The now 17-year-old kitsune said.

Today really was a special day.

For a whole year, Tails had been on trail, but today was his first day as an official crime-fighter. Something that he was very proud of.

"I know you wouldn't. This is you day, after all. Isn't it, bud?" Sonic said and placed a hand on his friend's shoulder.

"And if I'm not mistaken, you're getting your very own office, isn't that right?" He said and immediatly the kitsune's eyes lighted up in excitement.

"Really?! I didn't know that!" Tails exclaimed! His excitement was growing by the second.

"Really, it's right over there. You go ahead and check it out, I'll be right there." Sonic reassured his young friend before he let him run off to his brand new office.

Sonic quickly went into his own office and checked if he didn't have any missed messages from his boss and maybe even Amy. He had none. So with a slight sense of relief he walked out of his office and made his way over to his friend's.

Sonic pushed the door open that was already standing open on a small crack. As he walked inside, he could see the golden kitsune sitting behind his desk with a clear air of pride around him. But he wasn't alone.

"Knuckles, you're here too?" Sonic said, it was more of a statement than an actual question.

The crimson echidna who stood at the desk talking to Tails, turned to face the hedgehog standing behind him in the doorway.

The echidna, who was oddly named Knuckles, was the third member to the hedgehog's little team. He was strong and his muscled supported that fact. While Tails was the smart one of the trio, Knuckles was the one with the muscles, the strong one who could provide back-up whenever you were in a tight jam.

But besides that, he could be a great friend to hang out with.

"Sonic, decided not to come late this time, huh?" Knuckles responded. A quick chuckle followed shortly.

"Aw, come on, Knux. You're not still sour about me getting late for your little date with the boss, right? I just had a night shift and ended up sleeping longer than I had hoped." Sonic explained acting like he felt guilty. He knew that Knuckles didn't hold a grudge against him for missing his meeting with their boss. Sonic had felt a bit guilty in the beginning, but after the echidna had convinced him that it was nothing, there was nothing to feel guilty about, right?

Knuckles just responded with another chuckle and Sonic turned his attention back to the kitsune sitting behind his very own desk.

"And? Ready to start your very first day as an official Investigater and technician at this station, Tails?" Sonic asked, almost as enthousiastic as their younger friend. The said kitsune nodded twice, a wide happy smile present on his muzzle.

Suddenly, Tails' phone rang. The kitsune quickly picked it up, expecting his first solo misson. But his smile dropped and he handed the phone over to Sonic. The hedgehog took it and held it against his ear, but quickly held it at arm's length away and cringed when an angry voice came through.

"Damn you, Sonic! I've been calling your office five times now and you didn't answer! I should've figured you were having a nice conversation with your friends again instead of doing your job. I expect you in my office in five minutes!" The angry voice said before hanging up on him.

Sonic released a sigh and handed the phone back to Tails.

"Oh well... A normal day at work, right?" The hedgehog said with a small grin as he left his friend's office.


	3. The Convict

_Hiya! AHeartForStories here with the second chapter of 'Path To Insanity'!_

_This story will be an AU version of both Shadow and Sonic. Amy will play a part in this story aswell, but I'm not sure yet just how much she will participate._

_Please write a review and tell me what you think about the current chapter or the story in its whole._

_I hope you'll enjoy reading this story as much as I enjoy writing it! ^^_

* * *

**Path To Insanity: Chapter 2 - The Convict**

Prison.

There was no place more full with corruption, disease and darkness than a prison. Some were worse than others, but the worst one of all was the G.U.N Penitentary. The prison where only the worst scum of all over the world was housed, hidden away from society.

This place held those that were by 'normal' people's standards monsters. Freaks. They were guarded by the most corrupt of authorities. Wardens and guards who didn't care much for the people they kept from the society that rejected them.

But in every prison, there was always that one person who everyone feared to even speak his name.

Even if it was just a 17-year-old boy.

The hedgehog had always been the one they feared more than death itself. Of course, that hadn't always been the case. From the minute he had walked in, people looked at him with mocking glare, thinking to themselves why a young fry such as himself was send to a prison full of dangerous men who's crimes were brutal murders, rapes and multilations.

How did they ever expect somebody like him to survive?

The first few days, even weeks, were spend mocking him. His height, his young age of 14, his unusual fur colour and eyes. Everything about him was used to insult him, to degrate him. They even called him a girl on a regular bases to try and bring him down.

But it wasn't until they went to far that they got to meet the real monster behind those red emotionless eyes.

Alot of men died that day.

It wasn't until the shower room's walls were splattered with blood, gallons upon gallons of the crimson liquid seeped into the drainage, unrecognizable corpse littered the floor and the culprit had cooled off, that the wardens got over their fear and shock enough to go in and knock the boy unconcious long enough to lock him up tightly in solitary, planning on never letting him the light of day ever again.

That had been three years ago.

The wardens had stayed true to their word. In three years, the now 17-year-old hadn't even seen the artificial light of a light bulb other then the times when food was shoved inside through a slim slot on the bottom of the door, most of his food falling off as the opening was just a tad bit too low.

The hedgehog eyed the plate that stood in front of him. His dull eyes flashed a little in recognition. His stomach growled painfully as a scent got caught by his nose. The growling was the only other sound he heard besides his own breathing, the footsteps outside his cell and the occasional screaming convinct that was dragged to an empty solitary cell that wasn't occupied by a prisoner yet.

His numb hands clenched instinctivly. They were tied behind his back with heavy chains to the wall behind him. They had been for three years now. Their owner was surprised they hadn't fallen off from the bad blood circulation yet.

He pulled on them as he reached forward, ignoring the pain in his knees and feet as he had been kneeling for hours now, and tried to get to the plate with his muzzle.

"No." He whispered as he couldn't reach it and growled. Once more food had been denied him, just because the guard was too lazy to shove it any further inside.

The hedgehog tried to reach forward again and again and again. But each time failed to reach it. That quickly frustrated him to the point that he couldn't help but snap. A yell out of frustration left his vocal cords as he struggled against his restraints and invertedly ended up slamming his head against the wall. A yelp left his throat. He tried to get to the minor injury on the back of his head. But with his hands tied to his back, he was unable to.

He cursed the guards. He missed so many meals, he barely got anything to eat. If he still had his powers, than he would've been able to pull the food towards him with his own mind. But he couldn't.

They forced something on him. It looked like a headband that was wrapped around his head that made him unable to use his power, to use the one thing they feared about him. It sended the occasional shock right through his nerv system. It hurted and pain was the only thing that kept him from using it.

But he knew it wouldn't last. Everything needed to fail once, even the power inside a certain prison.

It would happen someday.

And he would make sure of that.

* * *

Sonic made his way down the hall with a casual stride, trying to cover up the fact that he was nervous seeing as he was about to have a little meeting with his boss. He wouldn't have minded having a conversation with her, that is, if she hadn't been screaming his ears off.

Even a minute or two after the phone conversation, he still could feel his eardrums throbbing painfully inside his ears.

He reached a door wit a plaque that simply read 'The Boss'. It had been a small joke that they played on her one day a couple of years ago. This woman, when she was in a good mood, could actually laugh about a small joke and so she simply left it this way, the thought of changing it never even crossed her mind.

Sonic politely knocked on the door, deciding that it probably wasn't such a good idea to barge right in. Especially not since his boss was apparently a bit in an angry mood.

"Come in." Came the voice.

Sonic took the door handle in a tight grip and twisted it slowly and the door opened with a soft click. It swung open and revealed a clean room in front of him with a desk filled with documents and a computer.

Behind the desk was a chair with a female mobian sitting in it with her legs crossed. She was a purple cat who couldn't have been any older than 26, only a year older than Sonic, and wore a decent outfit. Her name was Blaze Cat and she was the head of this whole station. Sonic often wondered how she got this position, but never asked as he knew she had the battle scars to proof that she won this position by fighting for it.

"Sonic Hedgehog." Blaze said. She was clearly a bit ticked off.

Sonic wondered what he had done wrong this time.

"Seems like you have decided to come on time today." She said and pulled up a smile. It was forced seeing as she was still a bit angry.

"Well, I try to be." Sonic simply answered.

"Have you showed Tails his new office?" She asked and he nodded.

"Good because I wanted to talk to you about that kid. Sit down please." She said and Sonic did as he was told, quickly taking a seat in front of her desk.

"As you know, or I hope you know, this is Tails' first day. You know what this means don't you? That he will get cases that won't involve you or the other way around. I know how protective you can get over your friends. Tails in particular. But that's why I called you in here." She took a small pause.

"Listen, I can well understand your feelings, but I want you to stay out of his way. If he asks for help, it fine that you give it to him. But I will not allow you to come in between him and his work and spoil everything for him. He's knew and he needs to proof he can handle these particular cases on his own. And that can't happen when you're up in his bussiness all the time. You can understand that, can't you?" Blaze asked.

"Of course I can. I'm not going to spoil anything for him. I'm not that cruel." He joked, although he was serious about not holding Tails back. He would never sabotage his friend's work. Especially since this was his first career and one that started with a head start. His technical abilities were already well-known throughout this building.

"You better stay true to your words, Sonic. Dismissed." Blaze said, waving her hand.

Just as he was told, Sonic got up and left his boss' office, planning on not returning until he got into trouble again.


	4. The Escape

Hiya! AHeartForStories here with another chapter of 'Path To Insanity'!

So... Don't laugh at me, but I finally figured out how those horizontal lines work. So I did a bit of tweeking on the previous chapters of this story and added those lines. Hopefully I'll remember to put them in with this chapter and the future ones.

I would like to thank 'StarLightRaven' for reviewing the previous chapter. ^^

Please write a review and tell me what you think about the current chapter or the story in its whole.

I hope you'll enjoy reading this story as much as I enjoy writing it! ^^

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Path To Insanity: Chapter 3 - Escape

A man with grey hair, close to the age of 60, sat at his desk. A cup of steaming hot coffee was being held in his hand as his miscoloured eyes swiftly scanned over another medical report from the west wing's infirmary.

A sigh was released from his lungs. If the doctor who had made this report was telling the truth, that could mean heaps of money loss. He just hated when that happened.

Knocking came from his door.

"Come in." He grumbled, not feeling up to receiving visits at this moment.

As he put his cup down, the door opened to reveal one of the many guards behind it. He was a human male in his 30's. He walked over to the desk and came to a stop, his arms crossed behind him.

"You called for me, Sir?" The guard asked.

"Have you completed your report?" The Head of the G.U.N Penitentiary responded with a question. Earlier he had asked this specific guard to take a look around the prison and see if the security was still top-notch.

The guard showed a folder in which his report was hidden in from behind his back and handed it over to the Headwarden.

"A ful final report of the security of the whole prison, Sir. I checked this place from every nook and cranny of this place and everything was in perfect shape. You don't need to worry about a thing, Sir." The guard said while the other man was reading his report.

"Good work. You're dismissed." He said, not bothering to look up from the folder in his hands.

The guard nodded and left the room. The Headwarden stayed behind, reading the report and occasionally taking a sip from his coffee.

Suddenly he heard a loud noise coming from outside. He quickly looked outside, only to discover that there was a storm coming up. A flash of lighting pierced through the clouds, another loud boom followed shortly.

Headwarden Tower furrowed his brows in concern. A lighting storm this close could cause some serious trouble.

He threw the report on the desk and leant over it to reach the intercom, connecting himself with every possible authority figure in the penitentiary.

"Men, there is a storm brewing outside. Keep a close eye on the convicts. In case-" Before he could even finish his order, the lights flickered and turned off completely along with the electricity in the whole building.

Tower looked around in surprise, not expecting a power-out this quickly.

"What the..." He muttered and looked out the window.

Lighting flashed once more, briefly lighting up the whole.

He watched the flashes come and go through the window, briefly wondering what to do. It wasn't until another strike or three of lighting and thunder came that he a thought suddenly hit him, making him jump up in panic and run out of the room.

'Oh no. Oh no, no, no. Please tell me he's still there!" The Headwarden ran through the halls. He didn't have the same stamina he used to, but the adrenaline rush and panic forced him to go on. He couldn't stop. Not until he could soothe his fear.

'Solitary! There it is!' He thought as he ran down another corridor, but abruptly stopped, his eyes widened in horror.

Blood coated the walls and remnants of unfortunate guards and even inmates were sprawled all over the place. A clanging sound rang through the long hallway as a metal headband fell from his hands and to the floor. An ebony hedgehog stood in front of a solitary cell that was usually locked on all times, for the inmate within was too dangerous and he had just broken out.

A smile creeped up on the hedgehog's muzzle upon seeing the much older man.

The Headwarden was frozen in absolute fear. He could take any convict on any time on any day, but not this one. Not on his own.

He swallowed and finally got himself to move.

"4405." Abraham said, reffering to the convict in front of him with his number instead of his name, and composed himself.

'4405's smile dissapeared, replaced by a deep frown. He was just a boy, but the expression he wore made him seem much older.

"Abraham Tower." His voice was barely a whisper, but still sounded so threatening.

"Get back in your cell, inmate." Tower said, placing his hands on his gun.

The hedgehog noticed it and his eyes narrowed in anger.

"Don't you dare, Tower. I haven't seen the light of day in three whole years! I'm getting out of here and you're not going to stop me!" He growled.

The Headwarden cringed, he knew that, if he didn't get the hedgehog back into his cell, that alot of blood would flow. He couldn't allow him to step a single foot outside of these walls.

The boy's fists clenched even tighter as the Headwarden refused to let go of his gun.

"Then so be it." He growled, his tone of voice suddenly becoming deeper and intimidating.

"Sir!" A guard yelled as he ran into the corridor to reach his superior, but he didn't get very far.

"Stay there, you fool! Don't get within his reach!" Tower tried to warn him, but it was too late.

With a sickening tearing sound and a bloodcurdling scream, the guard's neck twisted and popped out of place before his head tore off. His body fell to the ground, twitching a little. The guard's expression was that of absolute terror. The Headwarden watched his head for only a second before it dropped to the hard floor into the large puddle of blood that was quickly gathering.

He suddenly realised the danger he was in as he had just been reminded of the very thing they locked him up for in the first place.

Tower turned around to face the hedgehog. His whole body was shaking in pure fear. But when he looked at the hallway behind him, it was empty.

The lights flickered back on. The power was back. Tower shakingly lifted his radio up and pressed a button, opening contact to the nearest wardens.

"He escaped..." He muttered, taking a small pause.

"That wretched hedgehog escaped! Get your asses to the front gate and see to it that he doesn't escape in any possible way! I want that hedgehog dead before he can set a foot outside of these walls!" He yelled at the top of his lungs, his voice close to breaking a few times.

Slow footsteps echoed through the corridor. Inmate 4405 was walking, trying to find his way outside. It shouldn't have been such a hard task, but unfortunatly, he hadn't walked in nearly three years. He was still surprised he could even stand up straight. Especially considering how skinny he was.

* * *

'There it is.' He thought as he saw two large doors doom up in front of him.

The sound of a gunshot rang through the hall. A bullet had barely missed him and burried itself deeply into the wall.

The hedgehog was briefly stumped by it, but quickly recovered himself. He turned around only to face a whole battalion of men and women with guns aiming at him. His crimson red eyes narrowed in anger.

It seems like he would need to take care of these annoyances first before he could get his first taste of freedom.


End file.
